A Good Reason to Choose the Late Seating

These days our favorite entertainment with Carnival is comedy club. Late seating pretty much prevents one from seeing any of the later shows.

These days our favorite entertainment with Carnival is comedy club. Late seating pretty much prevents one from seeing any of the later shows.

Yeah, on our last cruise we had late seating and dinner took so long, we didn't get out until after the comedy show started. I was bummed. So glad we got YTD this time!!

Yeah, on our last cruise we had late seating and dinner took so long, we didn't get out until after the comedy show started. I was bummed. So glad we got YTD this time!!

We can enjoy a nice leisurely dinner in DR and than have our nights free to enjoy the evenings entertainment

I enjoy the traditional dining experience. I like eating at the same table, with the same servers and the same set of "new friends." I can eat at a restaurant at whatever hour I want on land. I want a different experience when I cruise.

(y):ship:(y)

These days our favorite entertainment with Carnival is comedy club. Late seating pretty much prevents one from seeing any of the later shows.

In our experience this is completely untrue. adult comedy does not start until 11:30, we saw the show every night after late dinner

I just got off the Splendor. The PG-13 comedy shows had varied start times (7:00 and 8:00) to accommodate both early and late dining. The Playlist Production start times were also set up very well (typically 8:00 and 10:00) to accommodate both dining times.

Now that said, if there’s any itinerary that’s a candidate for YTD, it’s the Mexican Riviera with the later departures from Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta.

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In our experience this is completely untrue. adult comedy does not start until 11:30, we saw the show every night after late dinner

With late seating at 8:15, 90 minutes later os 9:45pm. Plenty of time for a cocktail or casino before the show. They began at 11pm on our last cruise, but could be 10:30-11:30 pm. Still no worries - just let the waitstaff know you have plans if you want out earlier.

I prefer early. I did late one cruise and hated it.

 

 

 

I don't like a full dinner in my stomach that late at night, I may miss the shows and maybe other things if dinner runs too late.

 

 

 

Also, eat dinner at 5 or 5:30 at home and don't like to deviate from the norm that much...like 3 hours.

 

 

 

I find that 6 pm dinner is good for us and gives us time to get back from port and get to dinner in time. But, everyone has to make their own choice. I do think more people are choosing YTD for the flexibility, but not sure if assigned dining will ever go away. I think if that happens, service may decline if you are not assigned the same waiter every night.

In response to your comment that good service could decline if assigned seating went away, I’ve sailed Carnival, RCCL and NCL ships, and have had just as excellent service on my NCL cruises with Freestyle Cruising (no assigned dinner times) as I’ve had on my Carnival and RCCL cruises with assigned dinner times. As a matter of fact, we absolutely LOVED the flexibility of NCL’s Freestyle Cruising so much, that I chose YTD for my next 2 cruises on Carnival. I totally understand that YTD is not as flexible as Freestyle Cruising, where you choose to eat wherever and whenever you want. Carnival confines YTD to just one dinning room, rather than a choice of several restaurants.

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there are other dining options, just not free. For us, YTD is the only way to go.

As to this:In response to your comment that good service could decline if assigned seating went away,

I have not seen any restaurant offer assigned seating and the service can be great.

In our experience this is completely untrue. adult comedy does not start until 11:30, we saw the show every night after late dinner

No one said adult comedy. We only mentioned the comedy show. I don't care if it's the PG or the adult show, I just want to see one. On our cruise, the shows were at 8, 8:30, 9:30 and 10:30. By the time we got out of dinner, the 10:30 show was already completely full. On the last night, they also had an 11:30 show. But we're used to having to go to bed early since my husband has to be up at 5:30 for work, so no way were we staying up for that.

Since you are quoting what I said as "untrue", I'll be glad to provide a link to our Fun Times. http://susancrow.com/pdf/LibertyFunTimes.pdf

We are waitlisted for early dining and confirmed YTD which I do not want. I’m hoping to talk to the Maitre D and get it switched

We do YTD just in case we can't make it on time in Early Dining. We also go same time 5:45 and request same table we get on first night if we are happy with the servers. Also table for 2. Works the best for us.

I can see it happening. Norwegian Cruise Line doesn't have any assigned dining times and it seems to do just fine.

Apples and oranges, their model is based upon the desire to have everyone do a for pay restaurant. That is very different from Carnival.

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No one said adult comedy. We only mentioned the comedy show. I don't care if it's the PG or the adult show, I just want to see one. On our cruise, the shows were at 8, 8:30, 9:30 and 10:30. By the time we got out of dinner, the 10:30 show was already completely full. On the last night, they also had an 11:30 show. But we're used to having to go to bed early since my husband has to be up at 5:30 for work, so no way were we staying up for that.

 

Since you are quoting what I said as "untrue", I'll be glad to provide a link to our Fun Times. http://susancrow.com/pdf/LibertyFunTimes.pdf

I believe the poster said “in their experience” not that your experience was untrue....

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We love late seating as the pool is not over-crowded during early seating. Embark day and during early seating are about the only time we frequent the pool.

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we always do late seating because you can relax and have good conversation and not feel rushed out for the next crew to come in and eat. But this time we took early seating so we can see more shows. We don't like show first then eat of late seating so a lot of times we just missed the show.

We prefer late seating. Early dinner is way to early for us, and the experience hasn't been the same the two times we were assigned YTD by Carnival.

No it isn't. It is designed to let everyone eat when they choose to eat and not be locked into eating at a specific time whether or not you are hungry at that time.

..... and we disagree (which is fine).

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Why not? You an still eat at the time the late seating is now.

My DH and I always choose late seating at a large table.

I think the poster is like me --- we want the same staff at the same table with the same dinner partners every night. That might happen with YTD - and it might not be available.

It's what we prefer and what enhances our trip.

Do you actually foresee a point where assigned dining might disappear?

 

That would be a pretty drastic change.

I was considering a Norwegian cruise and they dont do assigned dining at all, so if Carnival starts going more by industry standards, i can see it happening

We don't want ANY 'dinner partners'. We do not want to be eating dinner with strangers. BTW with YTD you can request and get the same servers.

I am not the CC police, but I do wonder, in light of the thread you started about your experiences on the Pride, and your inclination to never cruise on Carnival again, why are you still here? Trolling?

I hate the play this card, but I really do think its generational. Us, our friends who cruise are all basically early 30s and do YTD and/or specialty restaurants. I am sure there are some 30yo's who enjoy set time dining, but I bet the % is much lower than the baby boomer set.

I hate the play this card, but I really do think its generational. Us, our friends who cruise are all basically early 30s and do YTD and/or specialty restaurants. I am sure there are some 30yo's who enjoy set time dining, but I bet the % is much lower than the baby boomer set.

You may be right about it being generational, but even at your age, have you tried assigned seating more than once to realize the advantages it may have?

You may be right about it being generational, but even at your age, have you tried assigned seating more than once to realize the advantages it may have?

Which advantages are those? I've done set time dining, early and late for a number of cruises, but have dumped set time in favor of YTD. We've lost nothing doing YTD when we choose to have dinner in the MDR. And FWIW, myself, wife and friends and family we cruise with, are in a "older" generational age group, and we all prefer YTD.

I'm in my 50's and my daughter is 18. We both prefer late dining, maybe because we're only a couple generations removed from being European. We did try YTD once and both agreed never again because three nights we had to wait for over 30 minutes with throngs of people just outside the dining room doors, clinging to beepers, many complaining they were waiting longer than they were told. To me, that's not YTD, it's "when Carnival can seat you dining", based on supply and demand.

You may be right about it being generational, but even at your age, have you tried assigned seating more than once to realize the advantages it may have?

We did 4-5 cruises with assigned seating, in the early 2000s. Really disliked it. Didnt like having to go at the same time every night, and didnt like having to make small talk with people we may/may not care for.

We ended up switching from CCL and sailing with NCL instead....I am going to say maybe around '05ish? (so long ago now) when they started doing their flexible meal options. We stayed on NCL until CCL started YTD, at which time we started splitting cruises as we still do.

Not trying to say one way is right or wrong, it just seems like the flexibility aspect is a big selling point for the younger cruising crowd.